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Also curiously enough, the Spanish title of this DLC is not Cindered Shadows. It's "En la boca del lobo" or "The mouth of the wolf". Probably just to relate to the mascot of this campaign.

Consider what Sothis is often referred to as sky wolf , I am curious what kind plot twist they would throwing in this time.

There is also the mysterious guy (only voiced in the trailer) asking Byleth to take in the new students, he speaks very much like Rhea does. I wander if he's the Seiros crest guy we found in the datamine. Then finally we haven't heard anything about the woman supposedly share same crest with Ferdinand, if she was actually an character rather than just placeholder.

Consider what Sothis is often referred to as sky wolf , I am curious what kind plot twist they would throwing in this time.

There is also the mysterious guy (only voiced in the trailer) asking Byleth to take in the new students, he speaks very much like Rhea does. I wander if he's the Seiros crest guy we found in the datamine. Then finally we haven't heard anything about the woman supposedly share same crest with Ferdinand, if she was actually an character rather than just placeholder.

I wonder how much lore this side story will explore. The voice is most likely the 38 (?) year old man. I don't know who else the voice could belong to, since they don't sound familiar. I'm not too sure about the Cichol girl. She could've been a placeholder enemy or something. She had the same stats as Ferdie, no?

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Italicizing the parts I find the most interesting. Thanks for sharing this btw. I've heard this on Reddit and I'm glad to see someone else mention it. (unless that was you on Reddit too)

1. Doesn't follow the month/mission structure of the main game- thank goodness I'm reading this as no monotonous Monastery wandering. So it sounds like the structure will be more similar to a classic FE game. This means that this story probably won't feature a time skip either. I wonder how the class system would work. Will they have set roles or can we still customize the class paths? Since this story will most likely be shorter, I assume Master classes won't be necessary/obtainable and Advanced Classes will be the last tier? Hmmm.

2. No additional recruits- Interesting. If we're given a set army, are we getting all 24 students and the faculty? Or are we getting a couple of people from each house? I think I would be happiest getting 2-3 reps from each house, so we get 9 normal students + Byleth + 3-4 Faculty members (Shamir, Catherine, and Alois maybe?) + 4 DLC characters. This will give us 17 playable characters and most maps require 10, so this will allow us some freedom to choose who we want as well as encourage us to use the new characters.

3. Said to be a little tougher- this is a great thing since Hard Mode isn't actually all that hard. Although I wonder if the gimmicks will be more annoying than actually difficult. Also, looking at the lineup they've given us so far- Edelgard, Claude, and Hilda... they have given us Top Tier characters to take on this mode. Is it hard even with them? Or will they make it easy like they're able to do in their paths?

Also, I do hope they get Timeskip designs, but I'm not sure if they will. Balthus is already more mature, so I'm not sure if he would look any different. Coco, Yuri, and Hapi are all young, but so is Jeritza and his appearance didn't change much (but he did get a new face sprite). Jeritza is arguably considered faculty and isn't really a student. These 4 are in a weird place- they're not really students, but I wouldn't call them "faculty" either. They don't appear to be associated with the Knights of Seiros since their color scheme is different. Byleth seems to play a mentor role to them, so maybe they are categorized with the students more? I hope so, since they'll most likely want to take the 10th slot on your roster in the main game (Balthus for VW, Hapi for AM, Yuri for SS, and Coco for CF).

Having all three lords at the same time would be great for the plot. Ostensibly these are three people who know each other rather well yet we see them interact...like twice after the first chapter.

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No, it would be plot breaking because the whole story can be avoided if Edelgard and Dimitri had an honest talk about crest and nobility.

They can talk about other things you know. In canon these people did have interactions with each other to the point where they could be considered friends. Claude at least believed he had an accurate enough summation of Dimitri's inner character to know he would save him in Blue Lions. Dimitri even says "you know me well."

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Completely separate from the main game - you select it from the menu, select a Byleth/difficulty (no Maddening) and go.

Good to know it's its own thing! Though it makes me wonder if we'll be able to import anything from the main game (e.g. Statue bonuses, # of Divine Pulses), but I'll come back to this.

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Takes place early in part 1. Byleth and the students pursue a mysterious figure and wind up in the Abyss, a town under Garreg Mach that the Church is silent on.

I wonder if the mysterious figure is the one who asks Byleth to teach the students. Also, the article says the Church is aware of the Abyssians but ignores them. Is that correct? It also says it's Byleth, the three Lords "and a few other students" who pursue the stranger, which I'll also come back to. Of course, having reps from all three Houses neatly sidesteps them having to choose a canon House for Byleth to have at the start of the story.

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The Ashen Wolves are former students of the Academy who have their own reasons for going to the Abyss.

I wonder why they felt disenchanted with the world to go so far. If the Church knows about them and isn't trying to save them, I guess the Abyssians really are happy down there? But in hindsight this does explain why the Church didn't seem to upset at the thought of Monica running away. This also explains the passageway hidden in the faculty's quarters where Flayn was taken. Maybe it was a pathway to the Abyss or an early version of an Abyssian hideout/ home?

Also, I wonder if their Crests are part of the reason they went to Abyss (something Edelgard will obviously comment on). One of the screenshots shows Yuri's Crest as another "Mystery Crest" despite us being able to see the full thing. Hmm...

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Doesn't follow the month/mission structure of the main game.

Now this is surprising! But it appears we can unlock the Wolves for the main story after completing this one, so I suppose it makes sense in-universe: you have a mad rush of a story with these guys that convinces them to give the surface world another try and join you in time to get thrown into a 5+ yr war. ...that's actually pretty bleak.

This almost certainly confirms there's no time skip, but I guess it's still possible - it'll just be a surprise since we won't be able to countdown to it as before. Still don't think we're getting a golden ending though, which is for the best.

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No additional recruits - you have a set army.

So we probably have the Ashen Wolves, Byleth and the few students who came to the Abyss with us. It sucks that we won't be able to use all our students (there are bound to be complaints from people that their favourites didn't make it in), but it makes sense for balance reasons. I was surprised that the Smash stage seems to have fixed representatives from each house, maybe those are the ones here too? Or maybe the students who join us for this are the ones the Wolves have Supports with?

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Said to be a little tougher than the main game.

This may explain the lack of Pulses/ bonuses I mentioned earlier, and why we don't have Maddening difficulty from day one (though that may be patched in later). I still think my personal perfect difficulty would be somewhere between Hard and Maddening, so I'm curious if that's what we'll get here.

P.S.

9 hours ago, Jayvee94 said:

Wait, is the Abyss mode different from the Side story (Cindered Shadows)?

Following @Sire's explanation, the side story was called "Abyssal Mode" when it was first revealed in Famitsu which is why you may see people calling it that. Old habits die hard and all that.

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Good to know it's its own thing! Though it makes me wonder if we'll be able to import anything from the main game (e.g. Statue bonuses, # of Divine Pulses), but I'll come back to this.

I wonder if the mysterious figure is the one who asks Byleth to teach the students. Also, the article says the Church is aware of the Abyssians but ignores them. Is that correct? It also says it's Byleth, the three Lords "and a few other students" who pursue the stranger, which I'll also come back to. Of course, having reps from all three Houses neatly sidesteps them having to choose a canon House for Byleth to have at the start of the story.

I wonder why they felt disenchanted with the world to go so far. If the Church knows about them and isn't trying to save them, I guess the Abyssians really are happy down there? But in hindsight this does explain why the Church didn't seem to upset at the thought of Monica running away. This also explains the passageway hidden in the faculty's quarters where Flayn was taken. Maybe it was a pathway to the Abyss or an early version of an Abyssian hideout/ home?

Also, I wonder if their Crests are part of the reason they went to Abyss (something Edelgard will obviously comment on). One of the screenshots shows Yuri's Crest as another "Mystery Crest" despite us being able to see the full thing. Hmm...

Now this is surprising! But it appears we can unlock the Wolves for the main story after completing this one, so I suppose it makes sense in-universe: you have a mad rush of a story with these guys that convinces them to give the surface world another try and join you in time to get thrown into a 5+ yr war. ...that's actually pretty bleak.

This almost certainly confirms there's no time skip, but I guess it's still possible - it'll just be a surprise since we won't be able to countdown to it as before. Still don't think we're getting a golden ending though, which is for the best.

So we probably have the Ashen Wolves, Byleth and the few students who came to the Abyss with us. It sucks that we won't be able to use all our students (there are bound to be complaints from people that their favourites didn't make it in), but it makes sense for balance reasons. I was surprised that the Smash stage seems to have fixed representatives from each house, maybe those are the ones here too? Or maybe the students who join us for this are the ones the Wolves have Supports with?

This may explain the lack of Pulses/ bonuses I mentioned earlier, and why we don't have Maddening difficulty from day one (though that may be patched in later). I still think my personal perfect difficulty would be somewhere between Hard and Maddening, so I'm curious if that's what we'll get here.

P.S.

Following @Sire's explanation, the side story was called "Abyssal Mode" when it was first revealed in Famitsu which is why you may see people calling it that. Old habits die hard and all that.

also, if you complete the Abyss mode, you can recruit the 4 wolves into the main game

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I am very happy with how this mode is turning out. I feel like this opinion may be contrary to most others but I prefer when I am restricted in what units and Classes I can use and from the sounds of this you only have a set cast, and It doesn't seem like you'll be able to change classes since there is no teachings. Finally! Our units are going to get their identities back and not just be blocks of stats. I always go for the canon classes (Post timeskip design classes) anyway when I play so this is cool with me.

As for which units can be used so far we can see

Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Linhardt, Ashe, Hilda and the Ashen Wolves. I doubt this is the full roster though honestly, I'd be down. Ashe and LInhardt are seen when Yuri uses his new switch spell (Ashe is being switched and Linhardt is in the back). There is also a wyvern above them in this shot which could be another character but for now I'm assuming that's Claude's Abyss class instead of Sniper. I really like how instead of picking the usual important character form each house like Hubert, Ferdinand, Dorothea, Dedue, Felix etc they went for Ashe and Linhardt who are honestly very minor in the overall story, I always like that kind of thing. Hilda's still there though. Best girl cannot be replaced.

One last point is when it says it will be harder than the base game, but it doesn't have a maddening difficulty. So is it harder than base game hard but not as hard as Maddening, or in the best case scenario, is it harder/same difficulty as maddening but better designed and more balanced. I do love playing Maddening but at some points in the game it just feels badly designed (Chapter 2/5 and SS/CF endgame) or stupidly easy and boring(8-10 + non CF 15). My hopes are definitely up though, the new classes needing specific seal to promote to is also a good sign of balance, so I hope they don't make these super easy to get.

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I’ll find it funny if these new characters will be the next 3H characters in FEH 😂. They’ll most likely will since the DLC is next month and they need promoting XD

Wouldn't put it pass them to do so to bring hype and promote it would pull so hard of them (Constance and Hapi PLEASE!) Balthus sadly won't have his Gauntlet Relics yet probably when they introduce fists as weapons and give it to his timeskip version most likely.

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Byleth's nickname being Ashen Demon always intrigued me because it didn't really seem to have any relevance story wise. So this DLC introducing called Ashen Wolves is making me wonder if it'll be relevant in the DLC.

Same here! Byleth got the name for being so stoic, but this makes you wonder if Sothis influenced them/ those around them to come up with the name or if there's some greater relevance to it...which is kinda why I'm wondering if it's just a huge coincidence too. I'd also love to know if there are translation shenanigans going on. The wiki only lists the English version of the nickname and nothing yet for the Wolves.

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Wouldn't put it pass them to do so to bring hype and promote it would pull so hard of them (Constance and Hapi PLEASE!) Balthus sadly won't have his Gauntlet Relics yet probably when they introduce fists as weapons and give it to his timeskip version most likely.

Makes me wonder what they’ll do with those gauntlet relics. I’m not expecting introducing a new weapon either, as those are a very new addition to the franchise, plus, only two characters (prior to the DLC) are depicted as their weapon of choice, so it’s not like they have much to use them on anyway. Nothing stops them to make the gauntlets an ability or special however. I mean seriously, we can expect them to do anything with those. FEH is way past with weird weapons

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I wonder how much lore this side story will explore. The voice is most likely the 38 (?) year old man. I don't know who else the voice could belong to, since they don't sound familiar. I'm not too sure about the Cichol girl. She could've been a placeholder enemy or something. She had the same stats as Ferdie, no?

Yes, she has same stat in datamine, considering Ferdinand always says he's the legitimate son

Spoiler

Maybe she's the illegitimate daughter who holds grudge against him

And for 38 yo Seiros guy, he's either from imperial family or some connection with Rhea. But I feel it's more likely with Rhea consider he's affiliated with church and that unique speech patter. I assume he's also fairly important lorewise.

He's probably different than Jeralt since he only carries minor crest rather than major if he also had blood transfusion.

Either way he's background could go major twist if they want

Spoiler

Going crazy side, maybe he's a secret child of Rhea with a human father, considering a lot of humans are attracted by Rhea. Or even more radical, maybe he's a child between Jeralt and Rhea before Byleth, and a half brother to Byleth, since Jeralt always gives me this vibe that there are more between him and Rhea underneath.

Note that all of the base game characters that have appeared in trailers for the DLC (Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Ashe, Hilda, Lindhardt) have supports with AW characters in the datamine. This means that the "set army" we are given will probably be the characters from the support lists of the AW characters. That is:

That gives us a decent assortment. I'm surprised by Jeritza’s inclusion as this is pre-time skip. If he is included I guess that confirms that this is pre Flayn's kidnapping - perhaps this DLC is how the Death Knight learns about the underground tunnel thing? How will they handle Jeritza/Mercedes interactions? I also do wonder how supports will be handled in the DLC - will we get new supports for base game characters exclusive to the side story? I'd love to see supports between the three house leaders. Or perhaps there will be no supports in the side story and AW have to be recruited in the main story for their supports to be viewed.

He's probably different than Jeralt since he only carries minor crest rather than major if he also had blood transfusion.

Jeralt wasn't the only person that rhea gave blood to, given the circumstances surrounding jeralt's near death experience I think he received a larger amount of blood which concentrated in jeralt gaining a major crest and the truly overpowered ability to be an absolute dilf forever

Spoilers for silver snow endgame

Spoiler

In the endgame of silver snow the white beasts which fight alongside rhea all had minor crests of serios and seteth states that rhea had probably been giving her blood to several higher up members of the church which caused them to transform and go berserk.

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Spoiler tagging because Datamine info and story spoilers for base game.

Reveal hidden contents

You might actually be right about that. I mean the dlcs are going to be usable in the base game too so it could still be there, but I hope you are right. That's a nice selection of characters to work with.